“Evan, take Adele and run away.”
“Got it.”
At my command, Evan quickly nodded and took Adele and Lily with him.
The frightening sound of fists colliding with magic circles echoed in the air.
With a bang, one magic circle shattered.
Is it really possible to destroy magic itself just with aura and impact? Primitive as it is, it was quite effective.
“Ugh!”
With a powerful shout, Katra’s fist smashed yet another magic circle.
The continuous strikes aimed at my chest halted just a hair’s breadth away.
His expression contorted once more at the sight.
“Doing this again, huh?”
“Operation: Coordinates.”
Dozens of white magic circles wove through the air.
As Katra watched, he took a deep breath, slowly wrapping his whole body in red aura.
“Attack.”
“Ha!”
Countless spears flew toward him. A brief shout filled the air, leaving a trail of red afterimages.
In the blink of an eye, all the spears shattered. From the center, Katra exhaled a white breath and spoke.
“Will this be enough?”
Just wrapping himself in aura gave him this kind of reaction speed?
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, revealing a vicious grin.
It wasn’t a magic spell meant to deal damage, but it had been a long time since he faced someone who could hold out like this.
“Point designated.”
The original purpose of the spears launched through the operation was to accurately locate the opponent’s coordinates. It was merely a setup for the next strike.
A massive, pure white hammer emerged beyond the shattered ceiling. Seeing it, Katra grinned and looked at me.
“Haha, you really are something, aren’t you?”
“Follow-up attack.”
The hammer descended.
A massive strike filled with the weight of gravity was dropped upon him.
BAM!
With a thunderous sound, the train car’s spine shattered. The floor had long since broken, and fragments of gears connecting the wheels and power source scattered everywhere.
Dust rose, obscuring my view.
“Ugh…”
I was astonished by Katra, who accepted the hammer head-on with both arms raised.
I knew the Emperor’s Sword was powerful, but facing it like this felt a bit overwhelming.
“Wow, I took a hit, Duke.”
“Let’s change locations.”
If we kept fighting here, the entire train could explode. Thankfully, this train car wasn’t directly connected to the power source, so it wouldn’t blow.
Evan could handle the leftover small fry on the train.
So, it was best to change the location first.
“What?”
Ignoring Katra’s question, I approached him. I reached out toward Katra, who was barely holding up the hammer pressing down on him.
Soon, a white magic circle began to form around him. Veins bulged on his forehead at the sight.
“Don’t tell me you’re—”
Before he could finish, he vanished. He must have teleported to the summit of Everlasting Snow Mountain, which he had previously designated as a coordinate.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded leaving him be like this.
To be honest, I was tiring of this fight.
But given his tendency to be a battle maniac, he would likely remember this moment for a long time.
“Katra is a sword that even the Emperor cannot fully control.”
Conversely, if I could make good use of that trait, it could serve as a means of rebellion.
It was obviously better to deal with him now, even if it was a bit bothersome.
§
A snowstorm raged, enough to obscure my sight. A place overflowing with monsters of unknown varieties.
In the midst of it, a man was grinding his teeth.
Snow wasn’t accumulating around him; only red aura encircled him.
“Haha, how absurd.”
Katra muttered irritably.
It didn’t seem to soothe his anger, as he threw a punch at a nearby tree.
With a crunch, the massive tree broke down effortlessly, crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, he stomped violently on the tree stump as his frustration mounted.
“I finally felt fired up, and damn…”
It had really been a while since he had encountered someone of such strength.
That second prince was still just a sapling, unripe and uninspiring.
The Tower Master hadn’t even bothered to engage with him, which made him irrelevant.
The attendant who always stuck close to the Emperor didn’t show his true strength, so he wasn’t worth worrying about either.
After so long, he finally found a worthy adversary, and that was Duke Hardenberg.
He felt the same sensation he had when he fought the Emperor.
The overwhelming pressure of facing a wall, the sensation of fighting for life in front of it, and the inferiority of losing.
The Emperor was the first opponent he had ever tasted defeat against.
Thinking about fighting someone at a similar level made his heart race.
“Hah…”
Katra always craved battles against strong opponents. But to be thrown away to such a far-off place before he could vent his excitement?
“I’ll kill you next time we meet.”
“And who are you planning to kill?”
The sudden voice made him whip his head around.
Silver hair and sharp silver eyes.
If his sight wasn’t messed up, it was definitely Duke Hardenberg.
“Haha, so you didn’t run away, did you?”
“I wouldn’t run away against the likes of you.”
Such an arrogant tone.
It was a provocation aimed at him, but Katra welcomed it.
Those who stood before him always tried to run away. The Emperor was the only exception, but even he found it bothersome to confront him.
“Alright, let’s have a proper fight, man to man.”
The snowstorm obscured their view.
It wasn’t a great situation to continue fighting. However, Katra didn’t care.
Compared to the places he had fought so far, the snow mountain felt like a soft playground.
In fact, it was the perfect place to ignite his fighting spirit.
Hoo.
The red aura began to melt the blizzard.
Simultaneously, white magic circles began to draw themselves in the air beyond.
BAM!
Fists and magic circles collided again.
It was a level of solidity that was a dimension apart from before. Katra couldn’t help but smile.
Surely, what he had shown on the train wasn’t his true self.
‘This is fun.’
This feeling of facing a wall.
The sensation of standing before an insurmountable mountain that he couldn’t possibly bring down with his own power. That was what allowed him to feel this burning sense of life.
How long had he searched for this?
Even when he killed the chieftain of the barbarians and the legendary chief among them, he had never felt this sensation.
Some called him a madman.
They weren’t entirely wrong. For this fighting spirit and sense of life, he had even taken down his own father.
“Khahhaha!”
He let out a hearty laugh.
Even though he was being pushed back, his laughter wouldn’t stop.
It didn’t matter if his fists couldn’t break through the defense. As long as he experienced the thrill of a life-and-death struggle, that was enough for him.
“It’s over.”
A hammer, much larger than the one before, appeared. Large enough to crush a mountain, it ignited a sense of battle rather than despair.
BAM!
With a booming sound, his arm broke. A chilling crack reverberated, but Katra paid it no mind.
He was solely focused on the fight.
“Ha, hahaha.”
His vision turned slightly red.
Was it from excitement?
No, maybe it was just blood seeping into his eyes. It had genuinely been a long time since he felt so cornered.
“Ugh.”
The red aura regenerated his broken bones. His muscles expanded and contracted repeatedly, exhaling white smoke.
With an aura-clad arm, he slowly lifted the hammer. With one arm raised and the other clenched into a fist.
THUD.
His fist struck the center of the hammer. A crack formed on the enormous hammer.
But it didn’t stop there; with Katra’s subsequent strikes, the hammer finally shattered.
“Let’s keep going.”
Just as he was about to step forward, he felt a pain in the back of his neck. The familiar sensation made Katra frown.
“Hah, just when I was having fun…”
The Emperor’s summoning command.
The pain from the mark began to intensify as though he couldn’t resist it. Was this the way to impede his upcoming fight?
CRACK.
“…What?”
Katra tore at the skin on the back of his neck where the mark had been inscribed.
There was a slight pain, but it was far preferable to the pain of the mark. Abel couldn’t help but furrow his brow at the foolish display.
The wound quickly healed with red aura, and the mark disappeared.
Of course, this action was merely a temporary solution. After all, the mark would be inscribed again sooner or later.
But at least he could keep fighting in the meantime.
“Crazy bastard.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, Duke.”
He threw a punch.
He broke through the magic circle and advanced. Abel, unfazed, merely launched a spear.
With explosive physical prowess, he shattered the spears and charged toward him.
Even with an arm severed, Katra quickly regenerated with aura. But whenever he aimed to land a hit, he found it difficult to penetrate Abel’s spatial control.
It was almost a war of attrition, but Katra was enjoying himself.
A jolt.
Soon, the mark etched itself back into the back of his neck. This time, the pain was incomparable, and he fell to his knees.
“Damn that Emperor…”
Cursing, Katra retreated. Simultaneously, a golden magic circle began to draw itself around him.
The same ominous presence he felt when the Emperor’s Hand appeared before.
“Then let’s see each other again, Duke.”
With that parting shot, Katra vanished without a trace.
“I’m good on my end.”
What a truly exhausting fellow.
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